Description and analysis of the play "The School of Scandal" by Sheridan. Richard Sheridan - school of slander Other retellings and reviews for the reader's diary

School of slander

The play opens with a scene in the salon of the high-society intriguer Lady Sneerwell, who is discussing with her confidante Snake the latest achievements in the field of aristocratic intrigues. These achievements are measured by the number of ruined reputations, upset weddings, incredible rumors launched, and so on. Lady Sneeral's salon is the holy of holies in the school of slander, and only a select few are admitted there. She herself, “wounded in her early youth by the poisonous sting of slander,” the owner of the salon now knows no “greater pleasure” than defaming others.

This time the interlocutors chose one very respectable family as the victim. Sir Peter Teazle was the guardian of the two Surface brothers and at the same time raised his adopted daughter Maria. The younger brother, Charles Surface, and Maria fell in love with each other. It was this union that Lady Sneerwell intended to destroy, preventing the matter from going ahead with the wedding. In response to Snake's question, she explains the background of the matter: the eldest Serfes, Joseph, is in love with Maria - or her dowry, who resorted to the help of an experienced slanderer, having met a happy rival in his brother. Lady Sneerwell herself has a soft spot for Charles and is ready to sacrifice a lot to win him. She gives both brothers sober characterizations. Charles is a "reveler" and a "spendthrift." Joseph is a “cunning, selfish, treacherous man,” a “sweet-tongued rogue,” in whom those around him see a miracle of morality, while his brother is condemned.

Soon the “sweet-tongued rogue” Joseph Surface himself appears in the living room, followed by Maria. Unlike the hostess, Maria does not tolerate gossip. Therefore, she can hardly endure the company of recognized masters of slander who come to visit. This is Mrs. Candair, Sir Backbite and Mr. Crabtree. Undoubtedly, the main occupation of these characters is washing the bones of their neighbors, and they master both the practice and theory of this art, which they immediately demonstrate in their chatter. Naturally, it also goes to Charles Surface, whose financial situation, by all accounts, is completely deplorable.

Sir Peter Teazle, meanwhile, learns from his friend, the former butler of the Surfaces' father Rowley, that Joseph and Charles's uncle, Sir Oliver, a wealthy bachelor, whose inheritance both brothers hope for, has come from the East Indies.

Sir Peter Teazle himself married just six months before the events described to a young lady from the province. He's old enough to be her father. Having moved to London, the newly minted Lady Teazle immediately began to study the secular arts, including regularly visiting Lady Sneerwell’s salon. Joseph Surface lavished many compliments on her here, trying to enlist her support in his matchmaking with Mary. However, Lady Teazle mistook the young man for her ardent admirer. Finding Joseph on his knees before Mary, Lady Teazle does not hide her surprise. To correct the mistake, Joseph assures Lady Teazle that he is in love with her and is only afraid of Sir Peter’s suspicions, and to complete the conversation he invites Lady Teazle to his home to “take a look at the library.” Joseph is privately annoyed that he has found himself in a “precious situation.”

Sir Peter is really jealous of his wife - but not of Joseph, of whom he has the most flattering opinion, but of Charles. A company of slanderers tried to ruin the young man’s reputation, so Sir Peter does not even want to see Charles and forbids Mary to meet with him. After getting married, he lost his peace. Lady Teazle shows complete independence and does not at all spare her husband’s wallet. The circle of her acquaintances also greatly upsets him. “Nice company!” he remarks about Lady Sneerwell’s salon. “No other poor fellow, who was hung on the gallows, has ever done as much evil in his entire life as these peddlers of lies, masters of slander and destroyers of good names.”

So, the respectable gentleman is in a fair confusion of feelings when Sir Oliver Surface comes to him, accompanied by Rowley. He had not yet informed anyone of his arrival in London after an absence of fifteen years, except Rowley and Teasle, old friends, and now he hurries to make inquiries from them about the two nephews whom he had previously helped from afar.

Sir Peter Teazle's opinion is firm: he "vouches with his head" for Joseph, as for Charles, he is a "dissolute fellow." Rowley, however, disagrees with this assessment. He urges Sir Oliver to make his own judgment about the Surface brothers and "test their hearts." And to do this, resort to a little trick...

So, Rowley conceived a hoax, into which he introduces Sir Peter and Sir Oliver. The Surface brothers have a distant relative, Mr. Stanley, who is now in great need. When he turned to Charles and Joseph with letters for help, the first, although almost ruined himself, did everything he could for him, while the second got away with an evasive reply. Now Rowley invites Sir Oliver to personally come to Joseph under the guise of Mr. Stanley - fortunately no one knows his face. But that is not all. Rowley introduces Sir Oliver to a moneylender who lends Charles money at interest, and advises him to come to his younger nephew with this moneylender, pretending that he is ready to act as a lender at his request. The plan has been accepted. True, Sir Peter is convinced that this experience will not give anything new - Sir Oliver will only receive confirmation of Joseph’s virtue and Charles’s frivolous extravagance. Sir Oliver makes his first visit to the home of the false creditor Mr. Primyam to Charles. A surprise immediately awaits him - it turns out that Charles lives in his father’s old house, which he... bought from Joseph, not allowing his native home to go under the hammer. This is where his troubles began. Now there is practically nothing left in the house except family portraits. It is these that he intends to sell through the moneylender.

Charles Surface first appears to us in a cheerful company of friends who while away the time over a bottle of wine and a game of dice. Behind his first remark one can discern an ironic and dashing man: “...We live in an era of degeneration. Many of our acquaintances are witty, secular people; but, damn them, they don’t drink!” Friends willingly pick up this topic. At this time, the moneylender comes with “Mr. Primyam”. Charles comes down to them and begins to convince them of his creditworthiness, referring to a rich East Indian uncle. When he persuades visitors that his uncle’s health has completely weakened “from the climate there,” Sir Oliver becomes quietly furious. He is even more infuriated by his nephew’s willingness to part with family portraits. "Oh, wasteful man!" - he whispers to the side. Charles just chuckles at the situation: “When a person needs money, where the hell can he get it if he starts to stand on ceremony with his own relatives?”

Charles and his friend play a mock auction in front of the “buyers,” raising the price of deceased and living relatives, whose portraits quickly go under the hammer. However, when it comes to the old portrait of Sir Oliver himself, Charles categorically refuses to sell it. “No, pipes! The old man was very nice to me, and I will keep his portrait as long as I have a room to shelter him.” Such stubbornness touches Sir Oliver's heart. He increasingly recognizes in his nephew the features of his father, his late brother. He becomes convinced that Charles is a carminative, but kind and honest by nature. Charles himself, having barely received the money, hurries to give orders to send one hundred pounds to Mr. Stanley. Having easily accomplished this good deed, the young playmaker once again sits down with the bones.

Meanwhile, a spicy situation is developing in Joseph Surface's living room. Sir Peter comes to him to complain about his wife and Charles, whom he suspects of having an affair. In itself, this would not be scary if Lady Teazle, who had arrived even earlier and did not manage to leave in time, was not hiding here in the room behind the screen. Joseph tried in every possible way to persuade her to “disregard the conventions and opinion of the world,” but Lady Teazle saw through his treachery. In the midst of a conversation with Sir Peter, the servant reported on a new visit - Charles Surface. Now it was Sir Peter's turn to hide. He was about to rush behind the screen, but Joseph hastily offered him a closet, reluctantly explaining that the space behind the screen had already been occupied by a certain milliner. The brothers' conversation thus takes place in the presence of the Teazle spouses hidden in different corners, which is why each remark is colored with additional comic shades. As a result of an overheard conversation, Sir Peter completely abandons his suspicions about Charles and is convinced, on the contrary, of his sincere love for Mary. Imagine his amazement when, in the end, in search of the “milliner,” Charles overturns the screen, and behind it - oh, damn it! - Lady Teazle reveals herself. After a silent scene, she courageously tells her husband that she came here, succumbing to the “insidious persuasion” of the owner. Joseph himself can only babble something in his own defense, calling on all the art of hypocrisy available to him.

Soon a new blow awaits the schemer - in upset feelings, he brazenly kicks the poor petitioner Mr. Stanley out of the house, and after a while it turns out that Sir Oliver himself was hiding under this mask! Now he was convinced that Joseph had “no honesty, no kindness, no gratitude.” Sir Peter complements his characterization, calling Joseph base, treacherous and hypocritical. Joseph's last hope is in Snake, who promised to testify that Charles swore his love to Lady Sneerwell. However, at the decisive moment, this intrigue bursts. Snake sheepishly reveals in front of everyone that Joseph and Lady Sneerwell "paid extremely handsomely for this lie, but unfortunately" he was then "offered twice as much to tell the truth." This “impeccable fraudster” disappears to continue to enjoy his dubious reputation.

Charles becomes Sir Oliver's sole heir and receives Mary's hand, cheerfully promising that he will no longer stray from the right path. Lady Teazle and Sir Peter reconcile and realize that they are quite happily married. Lady Sneerwell and Joseph can only squabble with each other, finding out which of them showed greater “greed for villainy”, which is why the whole well-conceived business lost. They retire to Sir Oliver's mocking advice to get married: "Vegetable oil and vinegar - by God, it would work great together."

As for the rest of the "college of gossips" in the persons of Mr. Backbite, Lady Candair and Mr. Crabtree, they were undoubtedly consoled by the rich food for gossip that the whole story had provided them with. Already in their retellings, Sir Peter, it turns out, found Charles with Lady Teazle, grabbed a pistol - “and they shot at each other... almost simultaneously.” Now Sir Peter lies with a bullet in his chest and, moreover, pierced by a sword. “But amazingly, the bullet hit the little bronze Shakespeare on the mantelpiece, bounced off at a right angle, broke through the window and wounded the postman, who was just approaching the door with a registered letter from Northamptonshire!” And it doesn’t matter that Sir Peter himself, alive and well, calls gossipers furies and vipers. They chirp, expressing their deepest sympathy for him, and bow with dignity, knowing that their lessons in backbiting will last for a very long time.

?? ?????????You, nurturers of the School of Slander,
?? ????????They brought the slander to beauty,
?? ??????????Is there really not one in the world,
?? ??????????So sweet and completely different,
?? ????????So that even you give her praise
?? ??????????With your silence and envy?
?? ??????????Now the sample will appear alive
?? ??????????To the harsh judgment of your evil hearts.
?? ??????????Decide for yourself whether the portrait is correct,
?? ??????????Or is it that Love and the Muse are just mild delirium.
?? ??????????Here, oh, the tribe of many-wise maidens.
?? ??????????O host of matrons, whose wrath is merciless,
?? ?????????Whose sharp gaze and frowning features
?? ?????????They do not tolerate youth and beauty;
?? ?????????You, by nature, are cold;
?? ??????????In your long virginity, you are as fierce as a snake, -
?? ??????????Here, oh, craftswomen to weave slander,
?? ??????????Create evidence if there are no rumors!
?? ??????????O you, whose memory is the guardian of vice,
?? ??????????He knows everything but the fact by heart!
?? ??????????Here, O slanderers, old and young,
?? ??????????Walking slander, stand in a row,
?? ????????? So that there is a counterbalance to our topic,
?? ??????????Like a hymn - a libel, like a saint - a demon.
?? ??????????You, Amoretta (that’s our name
?? ?????????Already familiar from other poems),
?? ??????????Come and you; let the darling glow
?? ??????????Your smile will timidly shade,
?? ?????????And, with a tenderly uncertain face,
?? ??????????Serve me as a desired model.
?? ????????Oh Muse, if only you could create
?? ?????????At least a weak sketch of this brow,
?? ??????????Happy brush call to the easel
?? ?????????Although the pale color of these wonderful features has faded,
?? ?????????Poets would sing your genius,
?? ????????? And Reynolds 1
Reynolds was a famous English artist of the late 18th century, especially famous for his portraits, some of which are mentioned in the following lines
I would bow my head
?? ?????????He, in whose art there are more miracles,
?? ??????????What in the wonders of Nature and Heaven,
?? ??????????He gave Devon’s gaze a new heat,
?? ????????????Granby's cheeks - the charm of new spells!
?? ??????????It’s not an easy feat to bring a tribute of praise
?? ??????????Beauty, whose mind despises flattery!
?? ?????????But, praising Amoretta, the whole world is right:
?? ?????????Before her, as before the sky, there is no flattery,
?? ?????????And, by the whim of fate, she is alone
?? ??????????We are inclined to deny our truthfulness!
?? ??????????Fashion doesn’t make it any more beautiful, painting them yourself,
?? ?????????Simply by the attraction of taste and mind,
?? ?????????Modest in her movements, completely aloof
?? ?????????And dryness, and violent feelings in the wave,
?? ??????????She doesn’t walk around wearing
?? ?????????The face of goddesses or the appearance of queens.
?? ????????Her living charm, every time,
?? ??????????Does not amaze, but captivates us;
?? ??????????It’s not greatness, but its features
?? ?????????We cannot measure beauty!
?? ??????????The natural color of her cheeks is so alive,
?? ?????????What, creating this marvel of marvels,
?? ??????????A divine creator might well
?? ??????????Put crimson on them paler,
?? ????????????I commanded the recluse of the lovely walls -
?? ??????????Bashful Modesty - to serve in return.
?? ?????????And who will sing the wine of these lips?
?? ?????????Deprive them of a smile – it doesn’t matter!
?? ????????Love Itself seems to be teaching them
?? ??????????Movement, although it doesn’t sound to them;
?? ?????????You, who see without hearing this speech,
?? ??????????Do not regret that the sound could not flow;
?? ?????????Look n...
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Sir Peter is really jealous of his wife - but not of Joseph, of whom he has the most flattering opinion, but of Charles. A company of slanderers tried to ruin the young man’s reputation, so Sir Peter does not even want to see Charles and forbids Mary to meet with him. After getting married, he lost his peace. Lady Teazle shows complete independence and does not at all spare her husband’s wallet. The circle of her acquaintances also greatly upsets him. “Nice company! - he remarks about Lady Sneerwell's salon. “No other poor fellow, who was hung on the gallows, did as much evil in his entire life as these peddlers of lies, masters of slander and destroyers of good names.”

Sir Peter Teazle's opinion is firm: he “vouches with his head” for Joseph, as for Charles, he is a “dissolute fellow.” Rowley, however, disagrees with this assessment. He urges Sir Oliver to form his own judgment about the Surface brothers and “test their hearts.” And to do this, resort to a little trick...

Charles Surface first appears to us in a cheerful company of friends who while away the time over a bottle of wine and a game of dice. Behind his first remark one can discern an ironic and dashing man: “...We live in an era of degeneration. Many of our acquaintances are witty, worldly people; but damn them, they don’t drink!” Friends willingly pick up this topic. At this time the moneylender comes with “Mr. Primyam”. Charles comes down to them and begins to convince them of his creditworthiness, referring to a rich East Indian uncle. When he persuades visitors that his uncle’s health has completely weakened “from the climate there,” Sir Oliver becomes quietly furious. He is even more infuriated by his nephew’s willingness to part with family portraits. “Ah, wasteful!” - he whispers to the side. Charles just chuckles at the situation: “When a person needs money, where the hell can he get it if he starts to stand on ceremony with his own relatives?”

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The play begins in Miss Sneerwell's salon, which is the basis of the "school of backbiting." Its visitors entertain themselves by spreading gossip about others and practicing their witty speech.

Miss Sneerwell tells an acquaintance about the new object of attack - Charles Surface. The young man had the imprudence to fall in love with his guardian's adopted daughter, Maria. Charles's older brother Joseph is also in love with her. It was he who asked Sneeruel to ruin her brother's reputation in order to break up the marriage. In society, the eldest is known as an impeccably polite and pleasant person in all respects, while the youngest has the reputation of being a spendthrift and a reveler. The “School of Scandal” willingly gets down to business and spreads rumors about Charles’s deplorable financial situation.

At the same time, Joseph tries to enlist the support of his guardian's young wife. However, she mistakes the young man's attentions for falling in love, so Joseph is forced to play along with her. The Sureth brothers' guardian, the venerable Sir Teazle, suspects that his wife is cheating on him with one of his charges. However, Teasle is confident that Charles is involved.

The brothers have a rich uncle, Oliver, whose fortune will go to one of them after death. He comes to the city in order to determine the heir. Sir Teazle tells him that Joseph is a fine young man, worthy of wealth, and Charles is a good-for-nothing spendthrift. Oliver Surface decides to secretly find out the characters of both brothers, introducing himself as their distant relative in need of help.

Having met Charles, he gets to know the young man from a different perspective. The younger Serfes really likes to play cards and drink a lot, but he readily comes to the aid of a poor relative by selling off his last things. In addition, he bought the old family estate from his older brother, preventing it from being sold to strangers.

Meanwhile, an awkward situation occurs in the elder Steffers’ apartment. He is visited by Mr. Teasle, while Mrs. Teasle is forced to hide behind a screen. The younger brother comes next, forcing the old guardian to hide in the closet. During the conversation, Teasle realizes that his wife cheated on him with his older brother. Upset that his plan has been discovered, Joseph kicks out Uncle Oliver, who has come under the guise of a poor distant relative.

Having experienced two failures in a row, the elder Surface decides to use the last chance to discredit Charles - Miss Sneerwell's salon. However, this time he fails.

The younger Stuffers receives an inheritance and marries Maria. And all Joseph and Miss Sneerwell can do is figure out which of them is more to blame for the failure.

Description and analysis of the play "The School of Scandal" by Sheridan. Richard Sheridan - school of slander Other retellings and reviews for the reader's diary

Picture or drawing of Sheridan - School of Scandal

Other retellings and reviews for the reader's diary